


Three Years

by Curvyetnerdy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:24:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curvyetnerdy/pseuds/Curvyetnerdy
Summary: Charlie Weasley finds himself enamoured with someone already taken – or are they. A short story of how honesty is really the best policy.





	1. Charlie Weasley and the Rambling Prologue

For as long as anybody could care to remember, Charlie Weasley had always been a steadfast bachelor – much to the dismay of his mother, Molly Weasley, and her desire for grandchildren. Sure, his current job as a dragon tamer, did little to provide him with opportunities when it came to meeting and dating the fairer sex – but he’d always gotten by quite well regardless. For the last few years though, he had been on a bit of a self imposed celibacy kick. Nothing was wrong with him per say; he was handsome, even as the number of scars marring his body kept growing. His countenance was as pleasant as ever, even after losing a most beloved little brother. He’d even warmed up to the idea of spending the rest of his life with someone special. But alas, Charlie had a very unfortunate sort of problem, something he couldn’t really tell anyone.  
He was in love with his younger brother’s girlfriend.

Now, he wasn’t entirely sure if it had been a gradual sort of thing - or if on that fateful christmas morning, he had suddenly fallen head over heels for Her. What he was sure of however, without any sliver of a doubt, were the flames of passion burning inside his heart. Reminiscent in intensity to the flames of a Hungarian Horntail, the blaze was exclusively reserved for HER. It has now been three years since that pivotal day, with no signs of relief. No matter what he tried, nothing seemed to work; He’d attempted dating other witches, he’d avoided seeing Her and thinking about Her, he’d even tried to research a cure for love – but it seemed no one had yet to come up with an effective spell or potion. So after a year of trying and failing – and moaning Her name, in the throws of passion with someone else, one too many times – he started to drown himself in work. His job with his beloved dragons proved to be his only respite. At least, it made it so that most nights he was too tired to do anything, but fall asleep. A small repreve to the constant anguish. It would all fall through however, as soon as he’d finally be forced to visit the Burrow again. He’d even contemplated stopping his visits altogether, but had come to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be fair to his mother, who already had to make do with seeing her second-born son only a few times a year – Or at least that was what he told himself.

Every family function was its own special sort of hell, as his brother’s girlfriend was sure to attend – A unique concoction of euphoria and utter despair. All the progress in trying to forget, would inevitably go down the drain, the moment he laid eyes on Her again. He couldn’t resist talking to Her, trying to make Her laugh and seeing Her smile. Additionally, in the last few years, they had developed a habit of staying awake after everyone else had gone to sleep, drinking firewhiskey and talking about life. It did little to quell his emotions - but he wasn’t really in a position to stop himself. He was as likely to jump into a pit of lava, than avoid the witch of his dreams after he finally had Her company again. 

With all of this, came a hefty price. In exchange for those small moments of perfect bliss, he also had to watch his brother and his girlfriend, show each other those small tokens of affection reserved to couples - kisses on the forehead, hugs, small touches here and there. He thanked Merlin they weren't big on larger public shows of affection. If they’d been inclined to kissing in public, he’d have been likely to either gauge his own eyes out or never return to the Burrow again. What he truly dreaded most in life - was the day his brother would finally propose and he’d have to watch them marry. He’d wake up, from time to time, to nightmares where he had to do just that. The nightmares always started with him first standing at the end of a wedding aisle, as the groom, waiting for Her to come down. As he watched Her approach, he’d spot himself in the audience and suddenly his perspective would shift. The perspective switch made it so that he was now forced to watch his brother marry Her, unable to stop the proceedings in any way. He’d more than once awoken drenched in cold sweat, in a state of panic. He’d taken up dousing himself with a sleeping drought every time he spent the night at the Burrow, so as to avoid a situation where he’d have to explain his nightmares.

Despite his struggles, Charlie Weasley was, is and always will be, a man of honor. He might be in love, but that didn’t make him the sort of bloke that would try to seduce his brothers girl. So now, he was stuck. Stuck between his ever growing feelings, and not being able to act upon them. Gryffindors, in general, are not known for their patience or their willingness to not act. Half of what might be attributed to bravery, stemmed from the inability to sit still. But Charlie Weasley had proven almost superhuman in that regard. No matter that he’d had to endure an absurd number of fantasies relating to Her. He always acted as the conscientious elder brother. Not one toe out of line.

Nonetheless, this all made him feel positively pathetic.


	2. Fantastic Christmas and How It All Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story begins. A glimpse into the fateful morning that sealed the fates of both Hermione and Charlie.

That Christmas day Hermione arrived at the Burrow, after spending the Eve with her parents. Their memories had been restored after the war, but their relationship was still in need of mending. It wasn’t easy for Mama and Papa Granger to come to grips with the fact that they had let their daughter enter a world, where a bunch of teenagers had to fight in a war against a foe that could be aptly described as the magical equivalent of Hitler. They were disappointed that their daughter hadn’t informed them of the extent of the resentment against Muggles and Muggle-borns. They had had a glimpse of the prejudice during their encounter with Lucious Malfoy, during Hermione's second year, but figured the prejudice had been solely directed towards them for their lack of magic, and not so much towards their daughter. Furthermore no parent wants their child to go to war, even less to sacrifice themselves to protect them. The fact that Hermione had obliviated them meant that they had no space in her new life. It meant that she was not able to rely on her parents for support, and that they were utterly unable to help her. Even if they wanted to, even when she was truly in need of help. They felt powerless and ashamed. Nevertheless, they all tried to come to grips with their new reality. Though, this didn’t make for the cheeriest of Christmas celebrations.

As if Hermione’s relationship with her parents wasn’t enough of a stresser, Ron had also made Hermione promise not to tell anyone, except Harry, about their breakup. Ron was terrified of Molly’s reaction, and Hermione was inclined to indulge him, as their relationship had seemed to help bring the Weasley matriarch out of her melancholy. A sort of reminder that life goes on, and even in the bleakest of times some light could be found. This of course was all too much pressure to put on a fledgling relationship. They had dated each other briefly after the war, but had soon mutually come to the conclusion that they were romantically incompatible. Unfortunately for them, their relationship was made public by the Daily Prophet and thus, also reaching the ears of Molly Weasley. She’d been elated by the news, as she’d wanted to make Hermione one of her daughters, ever since Ron had first introduced them. This made it utterly impossible for Ron to tell his mother the truth. Hence, their current predicament.

Hermione was not in the best of moods, as she arrived into the Weasley home, last night's events and dread for the coming day weighing heavily on her. Anti-apparition charms had been erected to protect against attacks from any remaining Death Eaters, making the floo the only way, besides flying and driving, to get to the Burrow. As Hermione stepped out of the green flames, into the cozy little living room, she was greeted by non other than a smiling Charlie Weasley. The older Weasley’s cheer upon seeing her, helped her push away the gloomy thoughts. Seeing Charlie always did wonders for her mood, melting away any negativity. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all, she mused to herself. 

“Hermione! Bloody good to see you! Merry Christmas love!” Charlie said, and as soon as she had dusted of excess ash from her clothes, she was scooped into a big bear hug. They had become rather close in the aftermath of the war. 

“Merry Christmas to you too Charlie! Is anyone else up yet?” She greeted him from the confines of his big burly arms.

“Unfortunately you’re stuck with just me for a while. I think everyone else is having a bit of a lie in after the festivities last night.” He said finally releasing her and moving to sit on the couch.

“Oh nonsense, it’s always a pleasure to see you. You are one of my favorite Weasleys, don't tell anyone. Why are you already up though?” Hermione responded, joining him.

“Ah, flattery gets you everywhere love,” Charlie chuckled and winked at her, causing Hermione’s cheeks to pink ever so slightly, ”to be honest, part of dragon wrangling is imbibing in a bit too much firewhiskey, every now and then, and having to still be up and about bright and early the next day.”

From there, they continued chatting about Charlie’s work with the dragons and then moved onto Hermione’s plans for the future. Hermione had returned to school to finish her N.E.W.T.s and was planning on joining the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after graduating. They bonded over their shared love for magical creatures until the rest of the household was finally up. As they chatted, Hermione felt the familiar flames warming her heart, as though she hadn’t smothered her infatuation with Charlie all those years ago. 

She’d first noticed him in 3rd year, after the Weasley’s had gone on vacation to Egypt. Ron had regaled her and Harry with countless stories of his older brothers for years. The group picture had been the first time though that Hermione had a face to connect to the stories of the daring dragon tamer. This caused her to develop a bit of a crush on the older Weasley brother. A harmless type of adoration akin to her past affection to Gilderoy Lockhart, though towards a decidedly more deserving subject.

This infatuation turned all the more tangible after she actually met him, in the summer before the 4th year. Charlie had come back briefly for the Quidditch World Cup and stayed for the rest of the summer after that. Meeting him, and seeing him leap into action in the chaos during the Quidditch World Cup riots, made quick work to strengthen her attraction. By the end of the summer break, Hermione was completely smitten with the lad. 

Hermione had thus been rather heartbroken, when Charlie didn’t seem to be, even remotely, interested in her, during his short stay at Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard tournament’s first round. Combined with her friends complete inability to even consider her as a girl, the young Granger’s self esteem was on it’s way to be considerably dented. Thankfully Krum’s invite to the Yule Ball came at a most opportune time, and she survived with only a few scrapes to her ego. It did serve to extinguish her feelings for Charlie Weasley though, and she thought them all but forgotten.

When Charlie first met Hermione in 1994, during the Quidditch World Cup, he was impressed by her wits, and frankly wasn’t at all surprised to learn she’d earned the moniker “Brightest Witch of Her Age”. It was in his opinion rather tamely put. But while he was admittedly fascinated by her, she’d been far too young then for him to consider her as more than the best friend of his younger brother. A younger sister sort of figure, no matter how amazed he was by her.

This started to change after the Second Wizarding War. Not only had she been formidable throughout the war, but she had also showed her compassion and grace after. He had found himself looking forward to their interactions more and more, as everyone worked together to rebuild the country after the atrocities. He had been a bit surprised when, after he returned to Romania to continue his work at the sanctuary, the one he missed the most was’t someone in his immediate family, but the bright curly haired witch. 

That revelation was eclipsed, however, by the surprise he felt when Ron finally came down that Christmas morning, and kissed Hermione on the forehead. Now this on it’s own wouldn’t have been that alarming, but combined with the fact that he’d felt his own heart shatter in that moment, it felt as though the earth’s axis had shifted.

“Merry Christmas babe, Merry Christmas Charlie.” Ron muttered groggily after the kiss.

“Oh you guys are seeing each other?” Charlie asked, ignoring his brothers yuletide greetings, and attempting to ignore the lump in his throat and the pang in his heart.

“I thought you’d heard. It’s been all over the Daily Prophet,” Ron questioned as Hermione turned away a bit, embarrassed, “Mum won’t shut up about it.”

“Been too busy, suppose. If you’ll excuse me I think I need some air. Been cooped up inside too long” Charlie said and forced a smile on his face. He then stood up and swiftly exited before anyone could utter another word.

“What’s wrong with him?” Ron mused, as he turned to face Hermione.

“Why’d you have to go and tell him we’re dating?” Hermione huffed and punched Ron’s arm.

“I didn’t tell ‘im not’ing” Ron grumbled, rubbing his arm in an effort to mitigate the ache Hermione’s sharp knuckles had caused.

“Well you implied” Hermione persisted, hitting him yet again on the same spot.

“Auch stop that, I’ m not your punching bag”, Ron hissed, and quickly moved out of reach, “Can’t very well have him telling mom about our breakup.”

Hermione let out an indignant snort and left to Ron alone in the living room to go and help Molly prepare breakfast in the kitchen.

That fateful morning marked the start of three agonizing years for both Charlie Weasley and Hermione Granger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone who read, commented and left kudos on the first chapter. You have no idea how much it means to me that someone read it. I was living under the assumption that nobody would read it, much less like it. Inspired, I reworked the chapters I had written, hopefully for the better. Let me know what you think! Much Love <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! It has been a long while since I've last dribbled in fiction, so I'd much appreciate any feedback, be it positive or negative. Also English is not my native language, so if you find any mistakes, I apologise and please feel free to correct me :) This work will be only a few chapters long, I have about 4 + the prologue planned out at the moment, but we'll see how the story develops. The prologue is a bit different in style to the rest of the story. Hope you enjoyed!


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